Peter Beinart examines the effects of the 2006 midterm elections on both the left and the right, with a view towards 2008 and the longer term dynamics on both sides. He argues that Democrats will have the greatest success in the short term by casting the midterm elections as a referendum on Republican rule, while avoiding presenting a detailed agenda of their own. This policy, however, will not serve the Democrats well in the long run: two years from now, they must offer a compelling vision for America or accept four more years of a Republican presidency.

Peter Beinart is editor-at-large at The New Republic, for which he writes a weekly column. He was the editor of the magazine from November 1999 until March 2006. He also writes a monthly column for The Washington Post, and is a contributor to Time. His articles have appeared in numerous publications including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and The Financial Times. Beinart is a frequent guest on a variety of shows on both television and radio.

In his recent book, The Good Fight: Why Liberals  and Only Liberals  Can Win the War on Terror and Make America Great Again (2006), Beinart argues for a reinvigorated liberalism which does not simply define itself against the right but fervently opposes the totalitarianism which stalks the Islamic world today. Liberals must see democracy as a just goal continually worth striving for, both at home and abroad.